


SOUL SEARCHER

by Wabbajackle



Series: SOUL SEARCHER SERIES [1]
Category: Deltarune (Video Game), Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Aged-Up Character(s), Amnesia, Antagonism, At least some drinking at some point, Author does their homework for this book, Character Study, Curses, Dubious Morality, Enemies to Friends, Eventual Romance, Friends to Enemies, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Good and Evil, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Magic, Magical Artifacts, Minor Violence, Multi, Multiverse, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, Obsessive Behavior, Other, Party System, Philosophy, Player Character - Freeform, Polls and Questions- Your Input Matters!, Psychological Horror, Racism, Reader Is Not Frisk (Undertale), Reader-Interactive, Stabbing, Stalking, Wilderness Survival
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:20:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27886675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wabbajackle/pseuds/Wabbajackle
Summary: .Survival isn't easy. It's dirty,  dangerous, riddled with disease and a step above death. But survival isn't a choice for you. It's either fix the mistakes of the past, or die trying...[UNDERTALE VERSION. PT 1 OF SERIES]Other works in this series:[Soon to be published]
Relationships: Asriel Dreemurr/Reader, Chara (Undertale)/Reader, Flowey (Undertale)/Reader, Kris (Deltarune)/Reader, Papyrus (Undertale)/Reader, Ralsei (Deltarune)/Reader, Sans (Undertale)/Reader
Series: SOUL SEARCHER SERIES [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2054343
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20
Collections: The Mytserious Fiction Challenge





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [mysteryfanfic](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/mysteryfanfic) collection. 



> This is just an introduction chapter. Fast, short, maybe not the best quality but still, story building.

THE MIRE probably once had a ceiling, if the few gargantuan silhouettes of ancient stalagmites were anything to go by. Since certain rock formations were thousands upon thousands of years old, at least those not lost in the collapse of the former cave, quite a few of them could be used as easily recognizable markers in your time travelling.

You were here to collect water from the surface. With the lack of a dome, a surface stream had at some point changed its course and became a constant thunderous crash of water slapping to the subterrain from what felt like hundreds meters up, pouring in tons of water which slipped through the marsh and pooled at the lowest points in the ground. If you were to obtain pure unmuddied water, you’d have to traverse the forest before reaching the bog, and then climb up to the first vestal, a clear pool that led into a series of smaller ones made from round striated craters in the Earth. The clay of the first vestal was also a very pale color, and full of minerals. It was known to have magical properties, not that it would benefit you much, as a human-- but you could always bottle some up and see if you could find a purpose for it.

A quick reminder that Sans could possibly be here flashed through your mind. Of course, being where you had been, there was a chance you’d run into another, the only other to frequent the area. Most tended to stick to inhabited areas except for the occasional lower cognizance life form, but not him. He.. could be unnerving, given that ever since he’d forced your soul out with a faux encounter ((He snuck up on you, and you went on the defensive not having expected to have a whoopie cushion fart against your cranium)) he never.. Said anything. He remained unbothered, and lazily interested in getting you worked up for his own amusement.

Not that you had the time, even if sometimes the days droned on almost slower than molasses. After all, you were on a timer, weren’t you? Fix the time-space continuum, or be erased from it completely. So far it was only Sans, you had some hope yet. 

All that effort to hide your soul, it wouldn't mean much if the wrong person set their sights on it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While starting out in an established point in the story, this is only the beginning in the sense that this is where we've been introduced. Major events happen prior to that will be revealed later on.
> 
> Short chapter, information packed. I'm going quality over quantity this time around.

* * *

𝙸 𝙳𝙾𝙽'𝚃 𝙺𝙽𝙾𝚆 𝚆𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝚃𝙾 𝙳𝙾

𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸'𝚖 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐

𝙸 𝙳𝙾𝙽'𝚃 𝙺𝙽𝙾𝚆 𝙷𝙾𝚆 𝚃𝙾 𝙳𝙾 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚂

𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐

𝙰𝚃 𝙰𝙻𝙻

.  
.  
.

THE FOREST had its terrifying allure, to a hunched over wanderer. Weeping willow tendrils draped the narrow path through, swayed by nothing but the shadows which wished to slink up to your feet and hold them in place by force or by fear. A heavy silence weighed you down from all ends, but couldn’t stop the steady tempo of your near inaudible steps and the harrowing of your heart. While noticing your hands shaking a little, your eyes were lidded, sedated, and your veins were a rope tied around your ears for anchor, overfilled with chemicals to force you into an eerie calm as a flight response from the danger you perceived, but couldn’t pinpoint.

PARTY MEMBERS: 0

“...” You caught the message in your peripheral, but didn’t look over to see why it popped up.That might have meant nothing, but to be reminded of your solitude hadn’t helped shut off the valve to the chemicals pumping in your body. You could taste sour in your mouth as your spit turned acidic and hot. Your stomach would likely be the next to go in this condition, but you could swallow it down and keep padding lightly, so as not to scare yourself with loud skids over the gravel laid down to make the path.

You didn’t know what specific part was setting your biological alarms off, or else you’d be able to try and shut it down. You’d lived long enough with this debilitating flight response to know how to bring it down just enough to hold your barings, but you were never all that brave in the face of immediate danger.

Even in midday, the canopy caught almost all of the sun’s light, leaving you in an echoing dark tunnel through tree trunks with promises of safety for a human without the ability to see in the dark.

The surrounding area, the Mire, only had the threat of gravity and spiky things on the ground for you to worry about, but this forest was uncharted territory, and who knew what it would spawn. Still, the underbrush rattled a sound that receded closer and further like old wheezing lungs rising and falling in a megalithic ribcage.

Like fine hairs, the sound of tin was distant and high above you, strings of water catching a light that seemed to have no discernable source. When you had first entered the forest, you hadn’t noticed clouds, but there are places where time is.. Finicky. Interesting. So this was an overlap area, as was evident with the slow falling raindrops. You weren’t educated in the subject so you were just making assumptions based on visible evidence, but you’d make a note to continue your research if you could find a library somewhere.

That also explains why there was a sudden forest in the middle of the bog, and why party count suddenly flashed in the corner of your eyes. You just entered a labyrinth. That meant there had to have been an artifact somewhere within here. Judging by the size, it was probably one of fairly decent value, but you weren’t ready to brave the inner labyrinth of these dark woods-- you only had a rusted shield and boots equipped, so you wouldn’t be able to get past the higher level summons no doubt guarding the inner labyrinth.

In that case, you better continue on the path, and not follow the noise. You also knew there was no guarantee the artifact would stay around for long, but you probably wouldn’t be able to get to this one in time, not with your shield and base gear. You already lost some time getting knocked back a save, and you were cheating enough, you could only keep it up for so long. Messing with the timeline any more than you were (not that you even had that kind of power built up in this state) would definitely set off some universal alarms, and getting glitchy like a virus being attacked from an immune response already caused you enough damage. It could possibly even kill you, or send you back to wherever it was you were before, though you didn’t know what came before life. No one did. Still, you did have your own theories, even without much to prove them.

But, therein lies the problem, and it pops up a lot: Fix the anomalies, or erasure for being one. Your memory wasn’t infallible -- especially not after your last mistake, you were punished heavily for that by losing all of your gear and probably a lot of your memory-- so while you weren’t the blank slate you were at the very beginning in the ruins the first time you did anything to majorly screw up, you had a lot of holes where important information should have been. That was also a setback, it meant having to spend more time plastering some of those holes with flimsy patches which you could lose again if you do anything too brash.

Of course, to compel you to act faster, you were actively being hunted. By who or what was never clear, but you had a feeling it was something to do with that previous universal immune system theory. Sans had already established himself as a relevant player, though you were yet to figure out his position. Maybe his laziness was a guise. You had some suspicion that he might’ve been sharper than he let on, and that made him a possible threat. You wouldn’t be able to tell until he outright tried to take your soul if he was one of your adversaries this time around. If not, maybe he’d be willing to join your party, though from what you’ve seen, his motives seem to encircle his younger brother, and human souls could be invaluable to a monster with enough motive-- good or bad.

You weren’t up for donating.

Still, you had to remember to focus. You needed to get out of this forest without alerting any artifact summons. Usually they kept a theme with the surrounding area, or shared similarity to the artifact they were protecting, and this area was pretty menacing. You’d rather not find out if they were as well.

. . .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I saw someone else doing this, and thought that I might give it a try:
> 
> More Likes + Comments = Faster Chapters
> 
> Are the paragraphs too long? Can you read this comfortably on mobile? Likewise, are they too short for those of you on PC?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for 1 comment and 111 hits!
> 
> @Vixen, thank you for telling me, I'll make an effort to provide with longer chapters, I know this one is short as well but I am not that great at pacing/ writing in general so I do apologize! I'm glad it's at least comfortable to read for you, and thanks for responding to my question! 
> 
> My next question for you guys is this: What do you look forward to most in a story?
> 
> Unique plot  
> Romance  
> Action/tension  
> Fluff/platonic interaction
> 
> Or something else that I haven't mentioned? Please let me know! 
> 
> ALSO: Chara or Sans? Please pick one ;) 
> 
> *Anyone who answers will get a response from me here, I do not comment so as not to inflate the comment section with my responses!*

ᵀʰᵉʳᵉ ᵃʳᵉ ᵗʰⁱⁿᵍˢ ʷⁱᵗʰⁱⁿ ᵗʰⁱˢ ʷᵒʳˡᵈ

ᵗʰᵃᵗ ⁿᵒ ˢⁱʳᵉⁿ ᶜᵃⁿ ˢⁱⁿᵍ

ᵗʰᵃᵗ ⁿᵒ ᵖᵉᵈᵈˡᵉʳ ᶜᵃⁿ ᵖʳᵒᵛⁱᵈᵉ

ᵗʰᵉˢᵉ ᵗʰⁱⁿᵍˢ ⁱⁿ ᵒᵘʳ ʷᵒʳˡᵈ

ᵃʳᵉ ᶠᵃʳ ᵇᵉʸᵒⁿᵈ ᵗʰᵉ ʳᵉᵃᶜʰ ᵒᶠ ᵒᵘʳ ᵐᵒⁿˢᵗᵉʳˢ

ᵃʳᵉ ʰⁱᵍʰᵉʳ ᵗʰᵃⁿ ᵒᵘʳ ᶜʰᵘʳᶜʰ ᵇᵉˢᵗ

ᵃʳᵉ ʷᵒʳᵗʰⁱᵉʳ ᵗʰᵃⁿ ᵒᵘʳ ˢᵉˡᶠⁱˢʰ ᵖʳᵃʸᵉʳ

.  
.

THE PATH, no matter how long you walked, seemed to stretch with your steps, almost as if the prick of light at the very end was fading with distance. Your current position was a vulnerable one. You were too low on supplies, and had no attack power against any creatures unaffected by physical attacks. Still it seemed that some other force had already made the choice for you. In which case, there’s no point in continuing on forward. You’d have to turn back. 

You stopped walking, and pivoted your heel. Sure enough, the path behind you had abandoned the visage of the previous you had walked. It was darker, almost as if showded in a physical blackout. You’d prefer not to go in blind as you were hardly a step over visionless, but perhaps you would not have to. It was only a glimmer, far into the thick of slow advancing predatorial mouths wanting to feed off the sparse light that gleamed off your skin, but it was a sparkling golden promise that should you enter, you would not be mandated to fear in the blinding darkness. You would be guided then, by the rules of something far more ancient than the concern for your life. All it would take is a step forward, a start towards the right direction. 

The tip of your boot tapped unto what felt like a padded foam, and force coerced your leg to wobble as your weight sank and continued to as though the ground was made of soft sponge. Still, you pushed to get through what felt like a thin membrane made of petri dish gel, something you’d poked in Alphys’ lab a very long time ago. It had been otherwise sensationless, while like dipping your body vertically into thick water it hadn’t obstructed your ability to breathe, thankfully so. 

Now that you were through, you’d found yourself in the middle of an enclosed grotto, encased by a picketed white fence which starved off the treeline from the break in thick forest. It was hard to miss the yellow seemingly flooding the ground with sweet little flowers, though you now realized how you were unfortunately going to have to crush a few if you were to move. 

“Sorry.” ‘Sorry to the twinge of limerence which has led to this dilemma of mine, for having to destroy your beauty because I can do no better.’ ..for the first time in a long time, you felt sunlight on the tip of your nose, and wanted to tip your face up to it and be bathed by it, knowing that with a step you’d be blocking out the light for the flowers to soak up. This.. You hardly even remembered the feeling after all this time. It filled you with a.. Strange melancholy. A self-indulgent greed, for which you felt remorse. Remorse for only being able to feel content by blotting out the light of someone else’s prosperity. 

...

PARTY MEMBERS: 1

**Author's Note:**

> May update daily, and more than once a day. 
> 
> Feedback is appreciated, and more feedback = more chapters (I'm sorry if that seems shallow, but youtubers do it and it works for them. I'm definitely motivated by feedback XP) 
> 
> These chapters are shorter than my usual, but I'm focusing on quality a bit more than I usually would so just cranking out 20K-30K a week like I used to just doesn't sound appealing. Rather give you guys something worth reading, and myself something worth writing, instead of my usual garbage.


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